EPISODE DESCRIPTIONS

SERIES 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Xmas specials

SERIES 1
* Number in parentheses at end of program description is BBCWA library tape number.

1. Hyacinth Bucket (she pronounces it 'bouquet') will go to manic lengths to ensure that even the most routine of daily events is just so, much to the chagrin of husband Richard and neighbor Liz. (1)

2. Hyacinth has asked the new vicar to tea and, in her usual meticulous fashion, she has organized the event down to the last lump of sugar. But things go awry… (2)

3. Hyacinth looks forward to soaking up a little culture at her favorite stately home. (3)

4. Hyacinth is at her wit's end, what with the charity shop, Councilor Nugent, Rose's love life and her Daddy! Can she cope? (4)

5. Hyacinth's social standing at a church function is jeopardized when Daisy tries to encourage Onslow to become more ardent. (5)

6. Hyacinth enjoys a quiet family christening - for a few moments at least until pandemonium breaks loose. (6)

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SERIES 2
1. Hyacinth is appalled when she sees a strange man next door at Liz's who has obviously spent the night there! What will such behavior do to the property values? (7)

2. Hyacinth is very thrilled when the wealthy Mrs. Fortescue asks them to give her a lift into town. After all, she is practically aristocracy! (8)

3. Hyacinth plans to hold one of her celebrated candlelight suppers in order to impress Emmet, head of the local amateur operatic society, with her vocal talents. (9)

4. Hyacinth has decided that she and husband Richard should have a weekend at a golfing hotel in order that she be able to keep up with the Major and his wife. (10)

5. Hyacinth is fearful that the tumultuous lives of her family members will cast a pall on the carefully polished image she tries so hard to maintain. (11)

6. Onslow's birthday celebrations may only come around once a year, but that is far too often as far as Hyacinth is concerned. (12)

7. Hyacinth is still eager to impress Emmet with her prowess as a singer, especially now that he is divorced and has moved in next door with his sister Liz. (13)

8. Hyacinth has to intervene when she learns from her relatives "on the other side of town" that Daddy has slipped out and run up a toy store bill that he cannot pay. (14)

9. Hyacinth is eager to take delivery of a new suite, which she is quick to tell everyone is an exact replica of one in Sandringham House. But the delivery goes awry. (15)

10. Hyacinth suddenly decides to take Daddy out for a picnic in the country, but Daddy equally suddenly decides that he will take her car! (16)

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SERIES 3
1. Richard has no hiding place from Hyacinth now that early retirement has been thrust upon him. He finds the though of all the extra time that the two of them will be able to spend together rather daunting. (17)

2. Hyacinth has forced Richard to participate in a trip to the countryside to look for Iron Age remains. But further cultural excursions are curtailed when Daisy and Onslow report that Rose is behaving in outrageous fashion. (18)

3. Hyacinth borrows a holiday cottage in the country for the weekend and plans a small barbecue. Small, that is, only by comparison with the planning efforts used by Churchill in the last war. (19)

4. According to Hyacinth, the one thing she cannot stand is snobbery, people trying to pretend they are superior. As she logically concludes, "That only makes it so much harder for those of us who really are." (20)

5. Hyacinth has determined that Richard needs a hobby and plunks down a video camera before him. She admonishes him to go off and "be artistic," an instruction she will soon live to regret. (21)

6. Hyacinth and Richard have been invited to a showing at an art gallery, and she hones up by reading books on art. Her polish stands to be stripped, however, when her father sneaks into the exhibit and begins mingling with the art lovers. (22)

7. The opportunity of spending the weekend on a cruiser thrills Hyacinth. She can occupy herself with purchasing the correct yachting gear for Richard and herself and in preparing a "nautical light buffet" for her family and friends on board. (23)

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SERIES 4
1. Hyacinth has decided that Richard will gain a high executive position with a local firm that has developed a vacancy in their ranks. Richard fancies neither the prospect of the job nor the plan Hyacinth has evolved for him meeting The Big Boss. (24)

2. Hyacinth has volunteered to escort a retired Commodore from the train station to the Ladies' Luncheon. She believes she will have just what it takes to ingratiate herself with such an old sea dog. (25)

3. Hyacinth volunteers Richard's services to help out the Church Hall where there is a problem with the lights. However, since his forte is strictly not in the direction of DIY, Richard's contributions only add to the mayhem. (26)

4. The bee in Hyacinth's bonnet is about buying a small cottage in the country as a weekend retreat. Richard learns that her idea of small does not match his. Hyacinth learns that the Country Life is not quite as she thought. (27)

5. Much to Richard's horror, Hyacinth decides to make another attempt at finding a weekend country home. When a sudden problem involving "Daddy" demands Richard's attention, Hyacinth asks Elizabeth to help her find a suitable property. (28)

6. Hyacinth and Richard are spending their first day in their new country "retreat." It may be a grand address, but the accommodation they have secured for themselves is not so much "small" as "minute." (29)

7. Hyacinth is desperate to keep up with the Barker-Finches, who have a bit of local fame at barbecue. She plans a super barbecue special complete with her own "celebrity," leaving Richard far from keen on the idea. (30)

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SERIES 5
1 Hyacinth is seaside experiencing all the fun of the fair at a pleasure beach. In her distinctive blazer and hat she looks after a travel weary elderly lady and deals with an amorous Italian pensioner. (31)

2. Hyacinth is concerned that her invitation to the Mayor's fancy dress ball hasn't yet dropped though her letter box. Richard is even more concerned that Hyacinth intends him to attend costumed as Louis XIV in silk trousers. (32)

3. Hyacinth is in a sunny disposition, which mystifies Richard. The real horror of his situation dawns on him when he realizes that he has forgotten their anniversary and that Hyacinth is beaming in anticipation of a gift which he has not bought her. (33)

4. While walking by an idyllic riverbank with Richard, Hyacinth comes up with one of her most ambitious plans. "I shall hold a riverside picnic equally as graceful as one of my candlelight suppers." (34)

5. Hyacinth has decided instead of her usual gift to Richard of slippers that he should received skis instead. When Richard protests that he has not intention of taking up the sport, Hyacinth responds that he can cultivate the correct image by strapping them atop the car and drive about with them occasionally. (35)

6. Hyacinth is most excited about attending a country house sale and "mingling with the aristocracy." Richard immediately loses sleep at the prospect of Hyacinth in a position to easily go well beyond their spending limits. (36)

7. Convinced that Emmet is too overawed by her personality to invite her to join the cast of a musical, Hyacinth invites Elizabeth and him for coffee. She then bursts into impromptu snatches of 1920s musicals. (37)

8. Although the musical for which she had auditioned is already fully cast, Hyacinth is convinced that Emmet is only too shy to offer her a part. Hyacinth evolves a plan to pluck up his courage by inviting him to Violet's home for a "bon vivant buffet." (38)

9. Hyacinth is stung to lose first prize at the local craft fair for "free style floral decoration of a table centerpiece." To make matters worse, the winner is one Lydia Hawksworth, a lady who one was objectionable at one of Hyacinth's candlelight suppers. (39)

10. Hyacinth may yet become the Barbara Cortland of the West Midland social scene. She aims to advise and educate the nation on gracious living, lit incandescently by their own candlelight suppers. (40)

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CHRISTMAS SPECIALS
1991 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - Hyacinth roars into the Christmas season. She manages to get poor Richard into a Father Christmas outfit but then has to confront with a very drunken "Daddy" who is making passes at the parish ladies in the church rectory. To make matters worse, there is a case of mistaken identity that culminates with her kissing under the mistletoe with a most unexpected partner.

1993 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - Hyacinth buys tickets for a holiday cruise on the QE2, looking forward to making acquaintances with the better class of person that one meets in such circumstances. Little does she know that Onslow has won tickets for that very same trip.

1994 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - Hyacinth has been very busy planning a new kitchen (a process which includes asking the Vicar whether a worktop color described as "Angel Gabriel Blue" is accurate). She becomes busier still when Daisy tells her that someone has been found in "Daddy's" bed - and it isn't "Daddy"!

1995 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - Hyacinth decides to organize and direct a local pageant titled "Our Town in the Civil War." She also, naturally, casts herself in the starring role of Queen Henrietta Maria and coerces various members of her family to play assorted Cavaliers and Roundheads. The Church Hall is soon in pandemonium.